ABC Open Gold Coast

How to build a coffin

Or how many are required every year to cater for the number of deaths across Australia?

Ashton Manufacturing on the Gold Coast is Australia's second-largest manufacturer of coffins.

It produces almost 40,000 coffins every year, which are shipped out to funeral homes across the country.

According to chief executive Rohan Kerr, there is a lot of work that goes into building a coffin.

The raw timber and medium-density fibreboard (MDF) are prepared, sanded and cut to size, then glued and assembled.

They then go through a painting and varnishing process.

Once the coffin is polished, the interior lining is added, and the handles and hinges are attached. The coffins are then quality checked and shipped out to funeral homes.

The coffins range from over-sized through large, medium and small, to child-sized.

"It's very confronting when you see the child's ones," Mr Kerr said.

"You think, 'That's a young person that hasn't had a life', whereas when you see an older person's, you know that they've got many years of stories to tell and they've had a life. It does make me stop and think about it each time."

While Mr Kerr is in the business of making coffins, he has his own personal experience of the product they make and the ramifications of working in an industry laden with emotion.

"I lost my own son in 2003. Going back through that process of when I first came here, to say wow, that's the casket that my son was in ... so it is confronting."

According to Mr Kerr, there are about 140,000 deaths per year in Australia, and the death rate changes seasonally.

More deaths occur in winter, while summer is a quieter time for the coffin-building and funeral industries.

"We try and do the best we can to deliver a comforting process for the family," Mr Kerr said.

"We're constantly coming up with ideas; how do we make it different, how do we make it more stylish, more contemporary and bring it into the age of what we're living now, instead of the dark ages."

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Comments

Sam Niedra

Years ago when living and working in West Gippsland in the conservation industry I met a lovely man Renus Dortmans who had a passion for native trees, particularly the Strzelecki Gum which is a rare Eucalypt species that grew naturally on his brother's farm (whose name escape's me). Renus began to passionately collect seed, propagate, and plant more of the tree along the farm's creeklines until his premature death. Renus knew he was dying, and he was driven to grow and plant as much as he could while he still had time. When Renus died his brother hand built him a coffin from the introduced Poplar trees that he felled at the property to make way for the planting of Renus' native seedlings. I was and still am deeply affected by these two brothers and their obvious love for one another.

Wendy Davies

Interesting to see the range of decorated coffins.

Kris Erskine

That was fascinating. Our family have some questions - are there more deaths in the north of Australia during summer rather than winter? Is there a shift towards cardboard and more sustainable coffins? Thank you for the story, more content like this please.

Paul Hannah

I have built a couple of coffins, mostly for theatrical use - making sets and props is a hobby of mine. However a number of years ago my father asked me to make his coffin. He said "What's the point of spending two grand on a box I'll use for three days?" After his stroke three years ago, I decided I had better start it. It took me a week or so of on and off effort and it is now stored under my brother's house.
It was a challenging build - it is a coffin rather than a casket, so it was those angles that made it hard. I also wanted handles that could be removed from the outside before cremation and they were hard to find too.
When I posted pictures, several people asked me to make theirs, but none have taken that final step of saying "Do it."
Friend me on Facebook if you would like to see pictures.
https://www.facebook.com/paul.hannah.39